


The Star

by TLara (larissabernstein)



Series: Of Dreams and Names [2]
Category: Megillat Ester | Book of Esther, Tarot (Divination Cards), תנ"ך | Tanakh
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Community: purimgifts, Gen, Midrash, Prophecy, Purim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-15 10:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1301581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larissabernstein/pseuds/TLara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The second in a series of three ficlets trying to capture moments in the life of Esther, the Purim story's heroine. I used some inspirations from the Midrash.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Star

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hagar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hagar/gifts).



They call me the morning star and speak of my shining beauty in hushed tones, devoid of jealousy.

But the name still feels dark and heavy on my tongue, foreign to my ears. I awake to its whisper that fills these magnificent chambers, reverberates in the lavish gardens. This is my new home, my new life. I close my eyes again and hold on to the dreams of my childhood days. Just a few moments longer before I have to face my golden cage again and the reality of my responsibility. I am a queen - and yet a captive in a strange land, now more than ever before.

Mordechai’s voice is as far away as the life I left behind, but I hold on to his words that connect the blurry scenes and transform their fleeting images into a prophesy. _You are a little rill of water, my dear one, but you will grow to be a large stream flooding the earth, and you will separate the two fighting evils that threaten to crush us._

My dream-self is but a feverish child. Yet, this dream abides with me, a promise not so much than an overwhelming threat. I am the stream and the watching star above, the jug that pours and the pair of strong hands that hold the precious water. I am the one they call Esther.

And it is those dreams, equally sharpened and softened through Mordechai’s wise and honest care, that carry my feet across the palace, let me be the queen I’ve never wanted to become. I have not revealed my ancestry to the king no matter how often and how adamantly he has asked. This alone would suffice to jeopardise my life and forgo the chance to save my people when the time comes. But then… there is something empowering in the prophetic words that seem to lie so heavily on my shoulders, weighing me down like the royal garb the court has made me wear. Jewels and brocade, gold and fur trimmings - they cannot change the young, frightened orphan I am still at heart. My task, however, as leaden and daunting it is, is heaven-sent; I am protected by this very God who made the stream, the star, and the modest jug of clay.

I rise to greet the day and stem the tide.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Image source: Wikipedia, "The Star (Tarot card)" - Tarot card from the Rider-Waite tarot deck, 1909.


End file.
